Introducing Giggles and Cuddles

Hello! I’m a 37-year-old Egyptian woman who grew up on the gorgeous banks of the river Nile in Cairo before moving to Zurich five-and-a-half-years ago. I’m also a recent mother to lovely twin girls. If I had been to see one of those mysterious women in a small alley in old Cairo, who specialize in coffee cup reading, and she had told me that in 10 years’ time I would be living in Zurich, I would have laughed out loud and thought that this woman had no clue what she was talking about. Now if that woman had told me that I’d be living in Zurich and have twins, I would have asked for my money back!

Don’t get me wrong, I love Zurich, and having my daughters is the best thing that has ever happened to me, but these are not the turns that I thought my life would take.  We are literally surrounded by twins: in my family, my husband’s family, friends in Cairo, friends in Zurich. Even our neighbours have twins, but still it’s not what we expected for ourselves. The fact that our Doctor missed the second baby on our first ultrasound didn’t help! We went to the second ultrasound excited that we were having a baby and the doctor said, “wait a minute, I see a second one!” We both asked “second what?” and he replied, “a second baby!” My husband must have asked me at least 5 times “what does that mean?” “That we’re having twins,” I said. “Yes, but what does that mean?” he asked again, and I replied, “We are having two babies”. He then said, “I understand that, but what does that mean?!” Well it did sink in eventually and, as first time parents, we panicked that we were having not just one baby but two at the same time. We worried about how we were going to manage and how drastically our lives were going to change, but we were thrilled to be doubly blessed.

As with many twin pregnancies it was a difficult one with lots of worrying, bed rest and a lengthy hospital stay. Being without family in Zurich didn’t make it any easier but I tried all along to block any negative thoughts, find my inner strength and focus on how it will all be worth it in the end. What made a world of difference for me was the support of my family, my friends all over the globe, and wonderful friends in Zurich who became like family. Luckily it all ended superbly in June 2012 when our non-identical twin daughters were born happy and healthy. Our older twin (by a good 38 minutes!) also happens to be the bigger twin. She’s very independent, self-entertains and quite adventurous. She has gorgeous, kissable cheeks and the most adorable giggles. At the age of 3 months when babies usually start to smile she was already giggling! Our second twin is the “baby” twin. She wants to be around people all the time and needs to be entertained. If we turn away for a while she will shout, calling for our attention. She has big, beautiful, sparkling eyes and she just loves to cuddle. Our twin daughters Giggles and Cuddles are 10 months now and it’s just amazing how fast they change.

I guess a big part of mommy blogging is for people to feel that they’re not alone out there, to read about experiences of other moms, and to find out how they deal with situations that we all face, so please do share your stories, experiences and your perspective on things with us. I will write about my life with Giggles and Cuddles, the highs, the lows, the expected and the unexpected, how I deal with all that (or not!) and I would love to hear from you as well. What I can tell you upfront is that having twins is hard work. And when you’re away from family and home it’s REALLY hard. But when I wake up in the morning to the sound of giggles coming through the monitor and I walk into the girls’ room to find them both on their tummies, heads up just above their cots, looking at each other and giggling, I just know that for me, despite all the challenges, this is exactly the way it was meant to be and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

By Didi in Zurich                    Illustrations by Albina Nogueira

Didi is an Egyptian mother of twin girls living in Zurich. Before having the twins she worked in the field of Economic Development. She is currently a stay-at-home mom focused on the growth and development of her daughters.